Critical Minerals Course

Next Course Date: April 5, 2023

Location: Potomac Institute Ballston Headquarters (Arlington, VA)

·       Early Bird Registration Deadline - February 24th
Early Bird Tuition $1,300
·       Regular Registration Deadline - March 24th
Regular Tuition $1,500

Secure access to critical minerals and rare earth elements are foundational to achieving broad national security objectives and the manufacturing of Department of Defense weapons systems. There are many unique challenges and opportunities for the companies to be aware of as the DoD works to implement White House direction on defense related issues. These issues include industrial base policy, supply chain security, requirements definition, and Service-specific programmatic acquisition.

This course will explore the national, departmental, and industrial base considerations for companies trying to navigate the critical mineral and rare earth element ecosystem with specific emphasis on practical non-plussed discussions from real practitioners that know how to balance policy with a profit and loss statement. This course will be led by an esteemed set of instructors with considerable experience in this field. Our instructors will help participants understand the importance of critical minerals and rare earth elements as they relate to national security.

The Potomac Institute for Policy Studies invites early to mid-career professionals with an interest in understanding the importance of the challenges and opportunities as they relate to critical minerals and rare earth elements. This course is perfect for industry, government, and academic professionals alike with a shared goal of understanding the intersection of policy, science and technology.

Session Descriptions

General Policy Issues

This session will introduce the broad course topic, what critical minerals are, why they are important to national security, and provide an overview of the Executive and Legislative actions to drive more investment into developing a secure supply chain for critical minerals and rare earth elements.

Speaker: Mrs. Sarah Mineiro

What Drives DOD Requirements for Critical Minerals?

Together we will explore what is driving the need for critical minerals and rare earth elements to support our national security objectives and specifically our DoD weapons platforms. This session will provide senior-level perspectives on how the DoD prioritizes and incentivizes access to and refinement of these scarce resources. Lastly, it will provide participants with the opportunity to discuss how OSD elements implement the guidance across the Department and Services.

Speaker: Honorable Al Shaffer

Service Acquisition Perspectives and Supply Chain Concerns

This session will provide Service specific perspectives regarding the programmatic implementation of higher headquarters guidance as it relates to critical minerals. As Services consider how to interpret and implement guidance through the lens of specific programmatic acquisition decisions, how much do acquisition officials care about critical minerals? We will also dive into how we can prevent and address supply chain security throughout the acquisition process.

Speaker: Dr. Alexis Lasselle Ross

Challenges and Opportunities with Critical Minerals

The capstone session will be facilitated by Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Industrial Base Resilience, Ms. Halimah Najieb-Locke. She will provide perspectives on how the DoD is currently investing in the development of critical minerals supply chains.

Speaker: DASDE Halimah Najieb-Locke

Course Director; Sarah Mineiro

Education Program Manager, Lakishia Biggs

Sarah Mineiro

Sarah Mineiro is a Principal at Potomac Advocates, a premier defense, intelligence, space, science and technology research and consulting firm based in Washington, D.C. Sarah has worked within the national security and defense sector for over 15 years. Over her career Sarah has worked in private industry, the Executive, and Legislative branches of government. Previously, Sarah was the Senior Director of Space Strategy for Anduril Industries, a hypergrowth VC-backed defense unicorn specializing in AI/ML enabled defense technologies. Sarah was responsible for developing the company’s space strategy, aligning internal company resources to product development, and business development. Sarah was the Staff Lead for the Strategic Forces Subcommittee for the House Armed Service Committee (HASC). She led the Subcommittee’s legislative and oversight activities of all Department of Defense and Military Intelligence Program space programs, U.S. nuclear weapons, missile defense, directed energy, and hypersonic systems. Sarah was the senior legislative advisor to Ranking Member Mac Thornberry on all strategic forces issues. In this role she was the primary drafter and negotiator of the Space Force and Space Command legislation for the House Republicans. Prior to joining the HASC, Sarah served in the Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Policy (OSDP) in Nuclear and Missile Defense, Koreas, Brazil, and Space Policy offices. At OSDP she was responsible for the development and implementation of several international strategies, negotiation of international agreements, as well as planning, programming, budgeting, and execution of Defense of Defense programs. She previously served in the Office of the Under Secretary of the Air Force for International Affairs (SAF/IA) as an international affairs specialist. At SAF/IA she was responsible for the development and implementation of the Air Force’s international engagement strategy for space. Sarah started her career as an intelligence analyst for the National Air and Space Intelligence Center in Dayton, Ohio. She was the lead employment analyst on foreign counterspace systems including space situational awareness sensors, directed energy, and kinetic kill vehicle systems. Sarah holds a Master’s in Public and International Affairs and a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science from the University of Pittsburgh.

Biggs

Lakishia Biggs is the Potomac Institute’s Education Program Manager. In this role she is responsible for the planning, development, coordination and administration of the Potomac Institute’s Education Program. Prior to joining the Potomac Institute, Lakishia served as the Lower School Assistant Director. In this role she worked with the Lower School administrative team to facilitate continued growth of and development of faculty by providing professional development and academic program leadership support. Lakishia also worked as a research teacher while at Norfolk Academy and brings years of educational and leadership experience from her various teaching positions to the Potomac Institute. She holds M.Ed. in Educational Administration, Planning, and Social Policy from Harvard Graduate School of Education and a B.A. in Psychology and Education from Mount Holyoke College.